In Japan they raise them as meat birds and have the poor lil guys solider 2 solider. I believe the less stress the better the bird..all around. If they seem stressed give them as much room as u feel comfortable with. We hatch them and have 'wild" Thanksgiving and Christmas
Congrats. I would raise your pen up off the ground. Maybe make them a little play pen to take dirt bathes. Unsure where u live. my mother had a pen maybe 4 ft off the ground. And somehow a snake still managed to get to them and ate all but 2.